1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a carton for carrying a number of articles or containers which can be opened and some of the articles or containers removed and the carton reduced in size and reclosed. This process of removing articles or containers and reducing the carton in size and reclosing can be done two or three times or more if desired. The reduction in size is accomplished by providing a set of tear and fold lines for each reduction in size to allow part of the carton to be removed and discarded and to form a new reclosable top for the carton for the reduced size.
2. Background of the Invention
Cartons that carry a number of articles or containers are frequently opened one or more times and one or more articles or containers removed and the carton reclosed. This results in the carton having empty space on the inside which may present a problem if storage space is limited. This is particularly true of products like toasted pastries, spring rolls, and meat pies which are typically removed one or two at a time from a carton which is then reclosed and stored. A carton for carrying toasted pastries may be restored in a pantry, while a carton with meat pies may need to be restored in the refrigerator. It would be desirable to have a carton that could be reduced in size and reclosed after it has been opened and one or more articles or containers have been removed from the carton. It would be desirable to be able to reduce the carton in size incrementally two or three times and reclose the carton into a neat package similar to the package in which the product was initially purchased to eliminate the storage space the empty portion of the carton would occupy.
In our above referred to prior application Ser. No. 10/841,927, we describe a carton which can be incrementally reduced in size and reclosed. In the carton disclosed in that application, the tear lines in the side panels extend diagonally and gusset fold lines are provided in the side walls to facilitate reclosing of the top. While that carton works well for its intended purpose, the carton disclosed in the present application is of somewhat simpler construction and may be easier for the consumer to use.